CANON FODDER /KAN in FAH dur/ noun: Ambulatory commuters who end up in tourists’ photos as they snap pictures of Grand Central Terminal with their digital cameras.

Usage: I was late for my 9 a.m. meeting, and ended up being Canon Fodder for some German tourists when I bolted in front of of them as they took a group picture in front of the Information kiosk in Grand Central.

Past Words of the Week are here.

Trainjotting turns three tomorrow. We’re feeling a bit nostalgic.

from December 21, 2007

PHANTOM OF THE STOPERA /FANN tum uv the STOPP ruh/ noun:

The people you see at your train stop each day that suddenly disappear, but pop into your mind weeks or months later and cause you to wonder what ever happened to them.

Usage: I was kind of making eyes at this young brunette at my stop, but then she went phantom of the stopera and my commute regressed to a mirthless dirge.

PURSE-REVERSE \PERS re VURS\ noun: The backpack-on-the-front method favored by European tourists in Grand Central who fear scary New Yorkers will steal their passports and guidebooks.

Usage: My schlep through Grand Central was delayed as I waited for some Slavic broad to photograph her boyfriend rockin’ the purse-reverse in the concourse.

[image: outdoors.webshots.com]

DUMBRELLAS /dumm BRELL uhz/ noun: People who clog the sidewalks with giant umbrellas even after the rain has, at least for the moment, stopped falling.

Usage: I was cutting it close to make the 6:10 to Chappaqua, and missed my train when I got caught up behind some dumbrellas on Park Ave.

Big thanks to the NY Times for highlighting one of Trainjotting’s world renowned Words of the Week in the new word blog Schott’s Vocab.

The one that linguist/wordplay maven (wordplayah?) Ben Schott published was the peculiar afflication that consumes countless regular commuters which sees them need to sit in the same seat (i.e. “their” seat) on the train each day.

The post elicted a funny comment from a guy in Texas who said a case of O.Seat.D. on a bus actually enabled him to meet his future wife.

Kurt L writes:

O.Seat.D.: Hey, that’s how I met my wife. I sat in “her seat” on the morning bus in Houston one day. She sat next to me and we started talking. Of course, she couldn’t speak English too well at the time…

We like to think we do a fair job of coming up with words for things that happen in the commuter’s day-to-day for which there heretofore were no words. We think Pershing Square-Dancing works pretty well, Phantom of the Stopera sums up a phenomenon every commuter has experienced, we’re all a little guilty of Facial Profiling from time to time, and StenchBench still makes us guffaw.

Yet there are those things for which we’re unable to come up with good, descriptive words. Perhaps you can help. Such as:

* The sad realization that all the oddballs, self-talkers and other commuter freaks on board all seem to get off at your stop.

* The first-time riders, one-way tickets or round trippers in hand, with no regard for the mores, protocols and customs of Metro-North riding.

* The useless Metro-Cards hiding in your wallet with just one dollar on them. 

* The ability of one small group of extraordinarily loud riders (often first-time riders, typically young females) to elevate the volume level on an entire train.

* The mountains of coffee cups, AM NY papers and food wrappers springing up from underserviced garbage cans on subway platforms.  

Feel free to suggest words, or offer up more scenarios that need their own words.

[image: filthymess.com]

CRAPATHETIC /CRAPP uh THET ick/ adj.: The state of steely indifference one must fine oneself in in order to assume a seat near the toilet on Metro-North.

Usage: The 6:33 to Mt. Kisco wasn’t even full, but some fool grabbed a seat on the stench bench anyway–that dude must’ve been big-time crapathetic.

EMANCIGATER: \ee MAN sih GATE or\ noun: The intrepid soul who, upon exiting the subway train, risks embarassing rejection and attempts to push open the Emergency Only gate and free the hundreds of riders waiting impatiently to exit the turnstiles.

(a.k.a. “Libergater“)

Usage: We were jammed up pretty good at the turnstiles at 28th Street after jumped off the packed 6 train, but some brave Emancigater led us to freedom.

KNEEGOTIATIONS \NEE goh she AYY shunz\ noun: The awkward intertwining of two passengers’ legs as they share facing seats on Metro-North trains.

Usage: A man took the seat facing me on the 8:16 to the city this morning, and after some tense kneegotiations, we figured out how to make it work and rode the rest of the way in relative comfort.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS: \MAHRRCH uvv the PENG\ gwinz noun: The late-night stagger of drunken commuters, clad in tuxedoes and cocktail dresses, through Grand Central after holiday parties in December.

Usage: Once December rolls around, I like to grab a seat at Michael Jordan’s, order a beer, and watch the March of the Penguins as the drunken jerks waltz through Grand Central.